How does patent examination influence access to finance for innovative firms? We exploit a reform to the UK's patent system that introduced substantive examination to the patent application process, improving the information available to potential investors on the value of firms' patents. Using...

A pre-condition for employer learning is that signals at labor market entry do not fully reveal graduates' productivity. I model various distinct sources of signal imperfection-such as noise and multi-dimensional types-and characterize their implications for the private return to skill...

Economists and management scholars have argued that the scope of incentives to increase cooperation in organizations is limited as their use signals the prevalence of free-riding among employees. This paper tests this hypothesis experimentally, using a sample of managers and employees from a...

How does patent examination influence access to finance for innovative firms? We exploit a reform to the UK's patent system that introduced substantive examination to the patent application process, improving the information available to potential investors on the value of firms' patents. Using...

This paper uses Nash equilibrium reversion as an optimal tool for clearing dynamic prices and wages. Various exogenous competitive rigidities determine the balanced growth path of the efficiency wage and the outcome of repeated household/firm wage bargaining decisions. A location model is used...

Transparency initiatives are well-known tools to foster trust and empower citizens. To explain why some governments introduce them but others do not, we model these initiatives as a signal that complements the information provided by visible government performance and conduct a randomized survey...

We explore the association between signaling and conducting innovation collaborations with public research organizations and firms’ revenues from firm and market novelties. Based on data from the German Community Innovation Survey 2023 and web-based indicators, firms conducting collaboration...

This paper considers data from China's A-share listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen from 2006 to 2021 to investigate how private placements affect asset mispricing. The findings from the empirical study demonstrate that private placements by listed companies substantially impact the level...

In dynamic models of asset markets with asymmetric information and endogenous screening, the anticipation of signaling through delayed sales incentivizes originators to exert greater effort ex ante. A central prediction in those models is a positive relationship between screening effort and the...

We study optimal auctions in a symmetric private values setting, where bidders have signaling concerns: they care about winning the object and a receivers inference about their type. Signaling concerns arise in various economic situations such as takeover bidding, charity auctions, procurement...

This study investigates the impact of child-related absence from work on the income of working mothers and fathers, addressing a significant research gap in sociology and labour economics. While previous research has established that gender and parenthood significantly influence income levels,...

Firms often discourage certain categories of individuals from buying their products, seemingly at odds with typical assumptions about profit maximization. This paper provides a potential rationale for such firm behavior: Consumers seek to signal that they have "desirable" ideological values to...

To study hiring discrimination against cancer survivors, we conduct a vignette experiment in which American and British recruiters evaluate fictitious job candidates. Candidates differed by periods of non-employment in their career, including non-employment due to suffering from cancer. We study...

To explain the mixed findings on hiring discrimination against homosexual applicants, we explore the perceptual drivers behind employers' evaluations of gay men and lesbian women. Therefore, we conduct an extensive vignette experiment among 404 genuine recruiters, for which we test...

To explain the mixed findings on hiring discrimination against homosexual applicants, we explore the perceptual drivers behind employers' evaluations of gay men and lesbian women. Therefore, we conduct an extensive vignette experiment among 404 genuine recruiters, for which we test...

We document that corporates in emerging markets borrow more in foreign currency when the local currency provides a better hedge in downturns. We develop an international corporate finance model in which firms facing adverse selection choose the foreign currency share of their debt. In the unique...

Digital platforms sometimes offer incentives to a subset of sellers to nudge behavior, possibly affecting the behavior of all sellers in the equilibrium. In this paper, we study a policy change on a large e-commerce platform that offers financial incentives only to platform-certified sellers...

In many countries, age discrimination appears to be driven by negative perceptions that recruiters stereotypically hold about older candidates' technological skills, trainability, and flexibility. Based on human capital, signalling, and screening theories, we hypothesise that training programmes...

This research seeks to clarify the uncertainty in crowdfunding literature regarding the relationship between the number of updates and campaign success. By integrating signal theory and the notion of information overload, this study posits a curved, inverted U-shaped relationship between the...